In almost any other sport or competition, it would be anathema to a type of observer, especially Real Championship Man: The wretched dead rubber.

A 54-year-old man has admitted sexually abusing more than 100 disabled children in care homes in Switzerland and Germany, Swiss police said today.

The United Nations and European Union rallied behind Switzerland yesterday after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s call for jihad against the country, with a top UN official branding the move unacceptable.

A rare, fist-sized meteorite from Mars has been found by scientists in the Oman desert and they are beginning to examine it for evidence of life on the red planet and other mysteries.